The West Nile virus has been detected for the first time this year in sentinel chickens along the Delaware River in Wilmington and in Kent County, state officials said Thursday.

The virus, which can be a danger to people's health, was confirmed by blood samples taken earlier this month from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s sentinel chickens, which are located at 20 monitoring stations throughout the state.

Eastern equine encephalitis, another mosquito-borne viral disease, was detected in a sentinel chicken in southwestern New Castle County, and a wild crow with West Nile was recently found the northwestern part of the county. No cases of West Nile or Eastern equine encephalitis have been found in humans or horses so far in 2017, according to a news release.

“These findings are not cause for alarm, but are of some concern,” Mosquito Control Section Administrator William Meredith said in the release.

He said Mosquito Control will increase its monitoring during mosquito season.

The period of biggest concern for West Nile transmission is late summer to early fall. The state monitors the virus and other mosquito-borne viral diseases with the sentinel chicken stations from July to late October. The Division of Public Health Lab then tests the chickens every two weeks for viruses and indicates whether West Nile has been transmitted by mosquito from wild birds to other animals.

Seven chickens in New Castle County north of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal tested positive for the West Nile virus last August. In October, a mosquito tested positive for the virus at the Dover Air Force Base.

No Delawareans were infected with the virus last year, officials said. However, 2,038 people in the country had the virus in 2016, which led to 94 deaths.

West Nile first appeared in Delaware in 2001. Two years later, the state had 17 reported human cases, two deaths and 60 infected horses.

State officials recommend people drain any outdoor areas that collect water — such as buckets, uncovered trash cans, birdbaths or clogged rain gutters — to reduce mosquito breeding and chances of disease transmission.

People can report sick or dead birds, common hosts for the virus, to the Mosquito Control Section between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the week. Residents in New Castle County and Kent Country (from Dover north) should call the Glasgow office at (302) 836-2555. The remainder of Kent County and Sussex County should call the Milford office at (302) 422-1512.

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 324-2386 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @merenewman.